The Case of the Missing Crown Jewels: Book 1 of The Keira and Papa Detective Agency

By Robert Martin and Keira Martin Ely

The special bond between Keira and Papa shines as they join together to solve their first crime -- The Case of the Missing Crown Jewels.

Keira is an 8-year old with red hair, hot pink glasses, and dresses like Pippi Longstockings. She is not as confident as her fashion statement suggests. Her dreams of being a heroine are overshadowed by a cloud of fear that percolates within her extraordinary imagination. Her grandfather, Papa, is just the opposite. His dress is conservative, and before he retired he thrived on adventure. He was a spy.

When Keira finds a magic hat that gives her astonishing powers, he invites her to join him in his new spy agency. That is when the Keira and Papa Detective Agency is formed.

The trust, teasing and mutual affection they have for each other carries them through a stream of disappointments and challenges as they attempt to solve the mystery.

For Keira, the adventure is more than just this case. For her, there are two mysteries: The Case of the Missing Crown Jewels, and the mystery of a new culture. Her dialogue with Sir Hazledine, the Secretary to the Queen, provides insight and humor to the latter.

Keira has two allies. Her American Doll, Emma and her mischievous dog, Waffles. Implanted in Emma are various crime-detecting devices that Keira invented. Waffles, who constantly goes from one mishap to the next, has a good nose for crime.

Each member of The Keira and Papa Detective Agency has their own unique crime-fighting skills, just the right combination to solve a case with no clues. To the surprise of Scotland Yard, the Director of Security and the Governor of the Tower of London they find the Crown Jewels, the case is solved. But is it?

The theft of the Crown Jewels is tied to a kidnapping. This is unexpected. Time is running out. Did they discover this too late?

The Keira and Papa Detective Agency, save the day with only minutes to spare. The Queen of England holds a reception in their honor and Keira is awarded The Royal Victorian Order, making her the youngest Dame in the history of England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DreamChaser Publishing
• Release date: Oct 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9780990831723

Robert Martin

After retiring as a division president of a Fortune 500 Company, Robert returned to his childhood infatuation with story-telling. He has a lot of stories to tell, many of them based on events experienced in the over 80 countries he has visited and the sixteen years he lived with his wife and two daughters in West Africa, Latin America and Asia. His first book, The Case of the Missing Crown Jewels, takes place in London, England. It is the first in The Keira and Papa Detective Agency Series. Robert has been an activist for children at risk both in the United States and internationally. His writing is a continuation of his effort to make a difference in the lives of the young. But this time it is a bit different. The audience is broader. It includes the kids next door. Those presumed safe. These are the children who feel unnoticed and whose concerns go unanswered, as their parents struggle to cope with the mounting stress of everyday living. Robert believes that grandparents can help—they can be an emotional rock, a wise friend and a playful elder. There is no greater bond than the trust and love between a grandparent and their grandchild. Robert’s books combine the excitement from his childhood story-telling with the insight gained from working with children at risk throughout the world. These are books that are fun and engaging as well as enlightening and heart-warming. They are books that bring grandparents and grandchildren together, where children get noticed and their concerns answered, where grandparents make a difference. Robert lives with his wife in Fort Myers, Florida, where he focuses on his writing and on helping children at risk. He is on the board of a foundation that deals with children at risk. It is considered the most successful of its kind in the world. Other interests include golf, foreign affairs, higher education, skiing, long distance running (two marathons) and the warmth of family and friends. Robert is also an advocate for children battling a serious disease for which a cure is not foreseen in the near future. Worse, for many of these children there is no research institution with a program whose mission is to develop life-sustaining-treatments that might provide a bridge until a cure is found. Robert is hoping to correct this void with the establishment of the Bridge to a Cure Foundation. The mission of Bridge to a Cure is to provide research funding for the development of life-sustaining treatments. The expectation is that the research will not only consider current and prior clinical trials, but also drugs that are off patent, and many of the non-traditional treatments. To learn more about Bridge to a Cure, please visit www.BridgetoaCure.org.

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Cast of Characters

Keira: a twelve-year-old, with a quick sense of humor, and a vivid imagination. She compliments her red hair and cool glasses with a multicolored wardrobe. She’s somewhat shy.

Papa: a retired senior executive and secret agent for the CIA. Since retiring he has been bored.

Waffles: Keira’s misbehaved puppy.

Kaya: Keira’s American Girl™ Doll that is more than just a doll.

Commissioner Lamb: head of Scotland Yard (London police) and an old friend of Papa’s. He has a close relationship with Keira. She calls him Uncle Commish.

Sir Hazledine: Secretary to the Queen of England. He is very formal and stiff. Doesn’t like children or animals.

Director Shallow: Head of Security for the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are on display. Addicted to chocolate. He is nice looking but weighs 300 pounds. He is married to a former beauty queen.

Governor Foster: In charge of all aspects of the Tower of London. Comes from a well-established family. His father was an ambassador.

Prologue

Six months ago, my grandfather and I left his house at 5:30 A.M. We arrived at the beach in time to watch the sun poke a hole in the seam where the sky meets the sea. We took our usual position at a table and chairs on the beach club’s stone patio next to the sand. No one else was there. All was normal, for the moment.

Papa, my grandfather, was on his laptop and I was scanning the horizon, when I noticed what looked like a head floating in the Long Island Sound. I leapt up and ran toward the water, shouting. Papa, Papa, there is a dead body in the water! He either didn’t hear me or didn’t believe me. It’s not often that a corpse floats by. I was sure that this time it wasn’t my wild imagination. It even wore a baseball cap. My pace slowed as I moved closer.

Keira, stop! Don’t move! Freeze, now! Papa commanded.

Let’s get out of here, I screamed.

Stay here. It will be OK, he replied with a much softer voice. He kissed my head, and then started toward the water’s edge. He inched his way forward, his feet no match for the carpet of broken shells. Ouch! Ouch! he said with each step.

Papa, stop! It’s too dangerous, I yelled. I was sure that the floating body would leap out of the water and grab him. I sometimes let my imagination get the best of me.

As he bent over to pick it up, I wanted to run but I couldn’t. It was like the sand had swallowed my legs. The fear worked its way up to my chest. I had to catch my breath. I had never seen a dead person before. I thought if I did, nightmares would follow forever. I couldn’t look down into the water. I kept my eyes focused on Papa’s face. Just as I was about to scream, I realized he was smiling, and saw what he was holding.

Papa put the ball between his legs and yanked with all his might to remove the baseball cap that was scrunched onto the ball. Although we laughed that it was only a hat stuck to a ball, I was still nervous. It had looked so real. I was thinking that at any moment an eye might pop out and it would turn into a gory Cyclops—my imagination’s standard operating procedure when it comes to doing something. This is very different from the anything is possible of my daydreams.

Papa squeezed most of the seawater out of the hat, and tried to place it on my head.

Papa, stop it! The hat is wet and yucky. How come grandfathers always like yucky things? I didn’t tell him that I was afraid there might be crabs and other scary creatures hidden inside.

He didn’t reply. He curled his lower lip downward, pretending that I hurt his feelings. We both knew that he was kidding. It’s part of the fun we have together.

Papa and I chased seagulls as we raced back up the beach to where we had been sitting. The seagulls took to the air just as we were inches from catching them. I arrived at the table before Papa. I could hear him muttering, ouch! ouch! the whole time as the clamshells played havoc with his feet.

It’s about time, slowpoke, I teased.

Papa laughed at my kidding then got serious. Would you like to go home, Gumdrop?—That was quite a scare we had. Gumdrop is his special nickname for me.

Although I was still shaken, concerned that the Cyclops might still appear, I said, No. I didn’t want Papa to think I was a wimp. To convince him that I was OK, I said, Hey, Papa, how come seagulls can fly?

I’m not sure. Let’s look it up on my laptop.

Papa turned the computer on. However, the glare from the sun was too strong for us to see the screen clearly. I held my hand over my eyes but that didn’t help much.

Papa put his hat on and said, Keira, my hat’s visor worked for me. I can see the screen now.

As Papa surfed the web searching for the answer, I slid the mysterious hat onto my head. I shivered. My imagination was up to its old tricks—I was sure that there were crawly, slimy creatures digging into my skull. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my fists, to fight off the fear of the terrifying images. I was sure this was the bravest thing I ever did.

The hat was a perfect fit. I shifted it a little to the right, then a little to the back, until it was comfortable. Moments later, my head started to tingle where the edge of the hat touched just above my ears, a soft vibration that gave me a sense of peace, not fear. Papa didn’t notice.

Hey, Keira, I found the answer. Want to know why seagulls can fly?

I already know, I said to the surprise of both of us.

Stop kidding around, Papa said.

I’m not, I replied. Before he could respond, I continued. Seagulls’ bones, like those of all birds, are hollow and as a result they only weigh a few pounds. Their feathers are light but strong. This allows them to create lift as they flap their wings. Just like when we press our arms and hands against the ground to do a pushup, birds press their wings against the pressure of the air below to push their bodies further into the air.

That’s right, Papa stuttered. But how did you know that? Did they teach you that in school?

"We haven’t studied that yet. I don’t know how

Reviews for The Case of the Missing Crown Jewels

[clong_818048 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a straightforward post-apocalyptic tale, a much easier read than The Einstein Intersection (the other Delany book I have read to date). It addresses familiar cold war era themes of the dangers and corrupting influence of the powers given man through scientific breakthroughs. Centuries after nuclear holocaust, mankind lives a primitive life, with high rates of small mutations. On another continent Aptor (presumably what's left of the USA), what is left of man is highly mutated, and a small group maintains scientific knowledge. At some point a set of three quasi-magical jewels were created, which serve as focus points for much of this knowledge, but the jewels always corrupt those who come to control them. Organized religion is a dominant force on this world; the leaders of the dominant religion have fallen prey to the corrupting lure of the jewels. The story follows a group of four men who have been sent to Aptor to unite the jewels and bring them back to the leaders of their religion. Characterization is limited; we never really learn much about the motivations of the protagonist Geo and his companions, nor of the religious leaders who try to manipulate their actions. We do ultimately get a not entirely convincing explanation for the cruelty and manipulations of Jorrde, the closest thing we have in the book to a villain. In the end, the jewels are thrown into the sea (where we know they will be hidden away for millennia while mankind has the chance to mature), when one of Geo's companions steals the jewels to gain their power for himself, but then commits an act of selfless sacrifice to save his compatriots. Ultimately, The Jewels of Aptor is an optimistic book, with the naive and idealistic young granddaughter Argo bringing scientific knowledge back to the primitive world, and the temptation of the jewels removed. Delany is big on symbolism, and there are many parts of the book that feel deliberately unrealistic. Overall, I'd say this is worth your time, but far from groundbreaking. I gave it a 7/10.